WARNING!! I'll talk about birds first, then talk about list-serv
issues. If you don't want to read the second part, enjoy the bird stuff
and delete to your merry heart's delight. Thank you, Your Humble Respondent

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About this time every year on this campus, Mew Gulls start to migrate and
their numbers
seem to outstrip the larger, clunkier gulls for a few days. This
phenomenon has started this year. In the gull flocks on the south end of
campus and to the south were several Mew Gulls in with the bigger birds.
This number will probably increase for the next week or so.
Geese and cormorant movement was notable this morning. A flock
of 25 Cormorants was winging its way down the Willamette in downtown
Portland, and geese were heading south and east over the city and the
Columbia River, respectively.
A note on ice effects: after the ice storms here in December, my
resident bushtit flocks seem to take a big beating. Finally, in the last
two weeks, a flock has re-appeared in the neighborhood.
Ray K

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WARNING!!! A comment on recent matters!!!
While it would be nice if some of the bashing would occur via the
personal response route, I think much good information has come out about
a confusing issue which, as a non-coffee drinker (and now frankly worried
about cola beans), I still want to be aware of as a birder. Useful
web-sites and publications have been noted, and much interesting
commentary on the nature of science and experimentation has been noted.
If you take the time to go through the material and to not simply delete
material, one can learn much. I tend to go through the mail I get very
quickly, but I save what is useful for later use.
As to the issue of proper use of public funding as a recent
posting, I would note that educating each other in this matter seems a
much more noble use of public funding than some things I can think of.
It also does seem sad to me that people are leaving the group because of
such threads. For those of us trying to learn birds of the region
better, such actions are regrettable. Rk
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Ray Korpi "A cat without hairballs is only half a cat."
Hm: Portland, OR --Ren Hoek
Wk: Clark College
Vancouver, WA
rkorpi at clark.edu